Research methods we frequently use
- Semi-structured user interview
We use this method most frequently in the discovery phase of the product design process. It’s relatively easy to organize and provides great insights. Starting with ten to fifteen interviews provides enough understanding to move forward. We try to recruit interviewees from each segment or target group we defined earlier. Furthermore, we involve the stakeholders in writing the interview script. Our researchers evaluate the previous results before each interview and iterate the questions to get the most useful answers from the remaining interviews. If necessary and our collaboration has the resources, we do follow-up interviews to dig deeper into sub-topics.
- Competitive research
It is very likely that by this point of the product design process, the product team already gathered the main direct and indirect competitors from stakeholder meetings and user interviews. More knowledge about successful competitors can aid us with feature ideas or design inspirations and can help us to position our client’s product. Even if there is no in-depth competitive research, we should at least maintain a competitor list in a collaborative spreadsheet or any cloud-based tool.
Field research
Field research is an extremely reliable method as it is based on observing user behavior in their environment. But for this very reason, it’s harder to organize and conduct without influencing the users’ behavior and interfering with the natural way of executing their daily tasks.Read more: https://www.eleken.co/ui-ux-design